News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-02-10
THE SUNDAY PULPIT.
REV. DIR. TALMAGE'S LAST sUNDAY,a
SERMON.
Subject of Discourse: "a Split The
olOSy."

Never on Goodwin Sands, or the SkerTlS,
or Cape Hatteras was a ship in worse pre-
dicament than in the Mediterranean hurri
cane was the grain ship with 216 passengers
driven on the coast of Malta, or Melita five
miles from the metropolis of that island,
called Citta Necchia. After two weeks of
tempest, and the ship was entirely disabled,
and the Captain and crew were completely
demOralizel, an old missionary took com.
mand of the vessel. He was small,
crooke d-back and sore-eyed, accord
ing to tradition 1t was Paul, the
only uus AIRED man ON board. He was no
more afrai I of a euro lydOn that could toss
the Mediterranean sea to the gates of Hea-
Ven, and then sink it to the gates of hell, than
he was afraid of kitten playing with
string. He orders them all down to take
their ratiOns, first asking blessing on their
food. Then he insuTeS all their lives, prom
ising them complete rescue, and so far from
losing their heads, they would not lose so
much of the hair as you could cut off with
one clip of the scissors. Aye. not thread
OF it, whether it were gray with age or gold
en- with youth. There shall not hair fall
from the head of any of YOU Realizing
at they would never be able to reach the
desired haven, they make the sea, on that
fourteenth night, black with the overthrown
cargo, so that when that vessel does strike
the ground it may not strike heavily. In the
early dawn they see a creek and they resolve
TO make for il. They cut the cables, take IN
the paddles which were on the side
OF those old boats and lift the main
sail SO that the vessel NAV be driven with
great speed, and perhaps on the top of some
fortunate billow be lifted high and dry uDon
the beach. There she goes tumbling toward
the rocks, sometimes PROV foremost, some
times stern fOremoSt-now rolling over to
starb1ard, now rolling over to iarboard: and
now great wave dashes over the decks, and
it seems as if the old craft had gone out of
sight forever. But uD she comes, and Paul
with his. arm around the mast stands
there crying: IAN is we'll; God hath given
me all them that sail with me in this ship"
Crash. went the PROV against the rocks;
with much force the mast falls Crash goes
the vessel, until the waves rush through from
side to side. She parts amidships, goes into
a thousand fragments, and 276 immortals
are precioitated into the sea. Some of
these passengers had been brought up
on the seabeach and had learned to swim,
end with the chin a little above the angry
wave and with the stroke of both arms and
the propulsion of both feet they started for
the shore and reached it. But alas for the
others. They have never learned to swim.
or they have been wounded by the falling Of
the mast, or the nervous shock was too great
for them, or they have been weakened by
long sea sickness. What is to become
of them! Take that piece of rudder," says,
Paul to one, land head for the beach
Take that fragment of a SPAR" saws Paul
TO another. Take that table, lake that image
of Castor and PolluN, take that fragment of
oh what a struggle in thu breakers, or the
merciless waters that dash clear over these
poor creatures. Hold on there! Almost
a shore! Keep your courage uD.
Remember what Paul told you. Here
they come in, a whole fam ". AS the
wave recsdes it leaves them in the sand on
tn bea h. Here comes in the Centurion on a
splinter of the spar. Here comes in a plank
fTeighted W tn a whole crowd of immor.
tails. Now they are all in, l think Yes,
Lot l. L
overseeing all the rest. and as he clambe s
up out of the surf and wrings the water
from his gray beard, he cries: 'Thank God,
all are here They gather around the fire,
for the Bible says Paul built a fire, and the
bundle of sticks begin to crackle, and the |
passengers begin to recover from the chill
and their wet clothes begin to dry, and
warmth and health seem to be coming back |
into the bodies of these passengers. Now let
the purser of the ship go around and see if |
nay OF these poor creatures are missing.
Count them all up, beginning one, two three |
and on to 100, and then on to 200, and then on
TO 2l6,until you have counted them all. See,
all are here-276 What a relief it is as | |
read the account: Some on broken pieces |
of the ship. And 50 it came to pass that they |
ESCAPED all safe to land
In previous discourse I examined some Of
these passengers, but to-day l confine my
attention more especially to those who came
IN on broken pie eS of the ship. There is
something about them that excites in me an
intense interest. I have not so much interest
in those who could swim. They got ashore. |
knew they would. A mile of water is
not very great pull for strong
swimmer; nor are two miles. But those
who were on the broken pieces OF the ship
/ cannot stop thinking of them. The great
gospel ship is the finest vessel that was ever
launched, and can carry more passengers
than any ship that was ever constructed, and
you could no more wreck it than you could
Tbsa+ =
ali the Teople would come on board her.
could not promise them smooth sailing all
the way, for sometimes it will be tenn
pestuous and a chopped sea: but l do
promise safe arrival to all who
come on board this Great Eastern-called so
thu East. and the star of the East was the
ba lge Of his authority. But there is a vast
multitude VIII do not take regular passage.
Somehow their theology is all broken into
pieces, or their life is all broken into pieces,
or their worldly or spiritual prospects are
broken into pie-es. and yet hope that they
will come to the shining shore, for am en-
outraged by thu experience Of these people
IN my text-''some on broken pieces Of the
Ship
One OBJ 'ect in preaching this sermon is to
encourage those who, while they do not
adopt all our systems of religion, neverthe-
less believe some one thing, and want them
to cone in on that plank Some on broken
pieces of the hip" There is a vast multitude
of peoDle who are kept out of the kingdom
of God because they cannot believe
eEervthing. l know men who are running
their souls because they cannot make up Their
minds who Melchili1ec was not: on the non
essentials of religion wrecking their immor-
tai hopes. do not underrate the value of
great theological system, but where in the
Bible does it say: "B elieve in John Calvin
and thou shalt be saved; :" or, believe in Ar
meniu> and thou shalt be saved:' or, "Beleve
in the Thirtv-nine articles and thou shalt be
saved. u A man may be orthodox and go to
hsll, or heterOdox and go to heaven. Take
Jesus Chri-t into the deep affection of our
soul aud we are saved. Refuse to take Him
into the deep affection of our soul and we
are lost. l belev in the Heidelbergh
Cate hism and the Westminster Catechism
and l wish you all did; but you
may believe nothing they contain except
that Chrit came to save sinners, and
shat you are one of them, and you viii be res
cued If you cannot come in on great ship
just find a piece of wood as long as the hu
man bod, or piece of wood as wide as the
outsDInaf human arms aud if you find that
either piece is a piece OF the cross, come in Oh
that piece. ''Some on broken pieces of the
ship"
l an talking with man about his soul.
He has recently been travelling in New Eng
land and he stopped over night at Andover.
he saws to me: Il don't become a Christian
because l don't think that mans fate is ir-
revocably fixed in this world. | tn nix there
death" MY BROTHER / say to him,
. what is all that to youa Do not
you realize that man who, in the
hope that there may be a chance after death.
gives up a good chance before death is
stark fool. Do not you realize it is imbecilitv |
for man to refuse to come ashore ION e
! !anE that Is thrown him before death be-
'aus9 ne hopes there will, by invisible hands, |
be plank thrown him after death? Do as |
you please, my brother, but since am offered
pardon for all my sins now, and offered all
the lows of time and eternity now,
accept them instantly because do not want
10 depend on a CHARGE which some wise men
think they can peel off or twist ont of a
Scripture passage which, for all the Christian
centuries has been internretad another way
But, says man: "IdOnt believa in Princeton
theology, or New Haven theology. or in An1o-
yer theology" My brother, do not ask you
to 20 on board of either of those men-of-war,
their portfolios filed with the great siege
guns of ecclesiastical battle Come in on the
gospel plank and strike out for the pearl
'trIng beach Of Heaven. ''SOme on broken
piece of the ship"
7 am talking with another man about his
soul and he saws: 81 don't become a Chris
an because I don't know about the doc
rin9 OF election and free agency; those
doctrines mix me all uDn There was a time
when I was bothered about those things but
an no longer bothered about them. I
have settled them in this way: l have made
ID my mind that if love Christ and live an
honest and useful life 1 am elected to be
iaveI. and if I do not love Christ and live a
BAD life I am elected to be damned
md all the theological institutions Of
ne universe cannot make it INV
lifferent. / once fOated on that Set. of
in and doubt farther out than the 276 pas